I'm impressed

School starts this week (do you hear mommy cheering!).
I think the boys are ready...for the most part. Doug is mostly saying that he is ready to go back.

So at dinner tonight I asked all three kids if they would name three goals they wanted to accomplish this year.
Andy impressed me the most with his goals. Here are his goals:

1. To work on being more focused this year
2. To get better with his handwriting
3. To get better at Reading and Math
   

I like that he is reflecting on how last year went, that he knows what he needs to work on most, and that he is specific with at least two of his goals.
I can hardly believe that we will meet teachers at Open House and school starts this week.

Romantic at heart

Josie is for the most part a little tom-girl; however, she can be girly-girly too. She loves to wear dresses (and a hat) to church.

Recently, Jim and I celebrated our wedding anniversary. Jim and I actually went out on a date. If Josie had had her way then daddy would be in "Sunday best" with a bow-tie, and mommy would be in a dress, with make-up, and "those heels I've been saving" (Josie's words...not mine). We did dress up, but opted for a little more moderate then heels and bow tie wear.

So a week later, when Jim came home with a cake from a new bakery in town, Josie decided on her own that the cake was for mommy and daddy's anniversary.

God sometimes forces me to clean out!

Sometimes in my life (like Noah and his flood) God has forced me to prioritize and clean things out.

In the past I have had some incidents with water (a leaky storage unit, water from a cracked humidifier, etc.), but this time is it something more pleasant. A student who is leaving to do student teaching in a foreign country in the Spring, was looking for housing in the Fall. She is a student I happen to know from previous opportunities I have had on campus. So we have cleaned and moved things around and we will have an undergraduate living in what was our guest room. It promises to be an interesting Fall semester!

Rev Jim

Our minister was on a trip today...so Jim preached. His verse from the lectionary was about the mustard seed. So Jim talked about the necessary conditions for our faith to grow. His "soil" was being in the word, such as spending time in a devotional each day. His "water" was small accountability groups, such as a Sunday School class. His "light" was the Holy Spirit/Jesus.

He through the children's message to me....I brought a balloon and likened a balloon to our faith. It may start out small but when we let God work within us, our faith grows.

Fig!

It is fig season here. We took probably about 20 pounds off the tree in one picking. Josie loves eating them straight off the tree. I dipped a bunch in chocolate and we took them to two different potluck dinners we had. We got lots of positive comments on them.

Summer...It's flying by

I compose blog posts in my head...but obviously they do not usually make it to the blog these days.
I have been uber busy.

• We (Doug, Andy, and I) were involved with a summer enrichment camp (Doug & Andy attended while I supervised teachers).
• We have been enrolled in swim lessons.
• We have gone swimming on our own.
• We have visited friends and relatives.
• We have tried to keep the house a little cleaner than what I manage during the school year.
• I have done a little data collection for my dissertation.
• Doug and Andy are learning to ride their bikes without training wheels (we need fine tuning but basically have it).
• I am also that mean mom who is forcing the children to do some school related work during the summer so that we are not losing what we learned.
  

Strike!

You know that you are bowling with small children if...

• you hear a big whump every time the children toss the ball out into the lane.
  
• the ball is rolling so slowly it gets stopped by the pins.
• the ball is rolling so slowly it starts rolling back towards you.
• the child gets a spare because the ball bounces off one pin and hits the second pin that is part of the split.
• The ball gets stuck in the gutter between the edge and the "buddy bumper."
  

Two weeks of partying!

Josie's birthday is four days before Doug & Andy's birthday.
The past couple of years we have had a "unified" party.

This year things sort of crept up on us and I suddenly realized we needed to make some sort of decision.

So Josie had a party at our house last weekend. I wish I could say that I have lots of pictures, but I completely forgot the camera at all.
Her party was on the eclectic side. She had cupcakes in ice cream cones and then also ice cream cones with ice cream. She had "pin the ear on the bunny" (That is what she wanted... not the tail, just the ears). She picked out the blue T-Rex pinata because she said it looked like Godzilla. We planted flowers in pots the kids had painted because it seemed like a nice take home party favor. We also decorated crowns. I did discover that many 3-4 year olds are not used to be being blindfolded.

Doug and Andy, to accommodate their diverse interests, are having a "Time Adventure" themed party. So we have two giant boxes (from an appliance store) that has a dial on it to make it a time machine. We have six time periods to visit.

• We will assemble dinosaur bones in the prehistoric period.
• We will pin the nose on the Sphinx in Ancient Egypt.
• We will use catapults to knock down a tower during the time of the knights.
• We will battle with balloon swords and axes (I'm hoping I can pull this off) for the time of the Vikings.
• We will have a treasure hunt and find a pirate pinata during the time of the pirates.
• We will shoot off balloon rockets in the future.

I'm looking forward to it. Andy is having a pyramid cake that I am assembling. Doug has a castle cake because I happen to have a bundt cake mold.

Charity, volunteering, donations, etc.

With everything that is going on locally I have to keep reminding myself that it is not all up to me. Through this experience and the experiences that I have had being a graduate student on a budget, I feel that I have learned some important lessons about donations, volunteering, etc.

1. When people are aware of a need they pull together. Many of the people and schools who lost things probably could have used the help prior to the storm, and yet now that it is plainly evident that help is needed other people offer an overwhelming amount of support.


2. The Shakers were right that "many hands make light work." I have to constantly remind myself that it is not all about me and that I do not have to single hand-idly save the world (thank goodness).
I may hear of a need but that does not mean that for every need I should run out and respond. I need to give other people the chance to respond and then I can help where I feel most called. There is a lovely Max Lucado quote that goes "Say no to the important so that you can say yes to the crucial" or something like that.

3. Sometimes you have to be the receiver. People can be generous and they want to help. Sometimes you might find that people want to help you and it can feel strange if you are used to being on the giving end of things. Some people do not want to accept "charity." However, you are allowing an opportunity for someone else to act like Christ.

We went out to eat to celebrate something and met a student with whom we had a passing acquaintance. She lost everything (car, apartment, etc). We offered some help. She was hesitant to take it. When I explained that it would not be charity but just her allowing us to help, she was more receptive. In our materialistic and competitive society we do not always teach people how to graciously accept help.

Well, I've definitely had better weeks

It has been a trying week to say the least, but not all bad.

So the bad stuff first:

1. Doug has been home running a fever all week.

2. There's nothing like being stuck in a basement while tornadoes rip through the area while a child is running a 103 degree temp and is maxed out on meds he can have.

3. While Doug did not officially get diagnosed with strep (I think the doc did not want to swab his throat a second time after the puke two days earlier), Andy was diagnosed with it and I (for the first time in my life) was diagnosed with strep.

The goodish news:
1. We seem to be improving health-wise and we are some of the fortunate who have both power and adequate water. (My favorite thing to do when a child hits 104.8 degrees is to throw them in a shower...that requires power and water).

2. My professor whose house was in the direct path of the tornado is fine and at least one of her housemates is fine (have not officially heard about the other one). If you want a testament to a miracle, the only house left standing one their street is their house...and they are nuns.

3. We have seen people banding together for the greater good, and that is refreshing. I know that some areas of the country may have moved on to happier news (such as royal weddings), but there are many people in need after the severe storms. We are counting ourselves blessed and have been doing what we can.
It is true that they need everything...and I do mean everything. Right now the needs are food, water, shelter, blood donation, etc. But next they will need household items, clothing, books, toys. There is also need for school supplies. At least two schools are damaged beyond repair and one will not be able to reopen before the next school year. So even school supplies are needed.